The Gift of Mortality
by cor tenebris
Summary: No one knows where the souls of men go after death not even the Valar. What happens when one comes back; will the fate of Middle Earth stay the same or will its undying flame go out. An Aragorn centric story


The Gift of Mortality

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, this fanfic is completely nonprofit.

A/N: This is probably going to be a two shot, I don't really know; just something that I couldn't get out of my head while I had a LOTR fanfiction reading binge. Note: Has some characters from the Silmarillion in it.

_The spirit wandered the cosmos aimlessly, the fire that once burned upon its chest and brow nearly extinguished. The black void of stars and suns are its sea, each world a small kingdom within its vast oceans. Time is irrelevant in its endless journey, but this spirit, carrier of its various lives among the small kingdoms of the cosmos, has wandered too deeply and entered a place that now only serves as a prison… _

_Squeezing through the bars of this cell, the soul makes its escape. Its flame now an ember, touched by the hideous evil of the dark prisoner; its instinctive flight urged by unseen hands to…_

Arda, the land which binds the souls or fëa of its inhabitants to the very earth, dooming its various races to remain there forever…

Except for the second born, the race of men who have the gift of mortality…, but what happens to their spirits after they leave the Halls of Mandos?

Not even the Valar (the Powers of Arda) know.

Perhaps the fleeing soul now determinedly making its way there will answer these questions.

Deep within the Halls of Mandos, a massive wind blew in, forcing the dwelling souls within to the floor with brute force; several tapestries that line the great walls falling with a great crash, broken and ruined.

Within his home, the great Doomsman of the Valar arose from his throne, his stern figure determined to discover what had run amok in his halls.

Admit the waiting souls of men waiting to depart, he found his wife clutching in her hands broken tapestries.

"Vairë", Námos said unemotionally, his voice an unspoken command to reveal what had occurred in his halls.

"A spirit has returned from beyond Arda, its entrance the gate from which the spirits of men depart. Its fëa is most disturbing, for within its folds numerous voices could be heard; a mixture of laughter, heartache, and tears."

Vairë's words brought a frown to Námos normally expressionless face, and he moved to summon one of his Maiar (kin lesser spirits).

Unknown to the Lord, the soul flew with great speed to its secondary goal; the Path of Dreams as if guided by an invisible force…

Before Námos could summon a Maia, one of his servants appeared in front of him.

"My Lord, the herald of Manwë has arrived, the Valar are to come to the Máhanaxar for counsel…

The rest of the Maia's words are drowned out by a great cry of shock and pain; resonating over Valinor (the undying land) gaining every immortal resident's attention.

The cry came from a voice very familiar to Lord Námos… the voice of his brother Lord Irmo, master of the Gardens of Lorien.

Concerned and angered, he used his power to appear in the Gardens of Lorien quickly.

Elves, Maiar, and other Valar that had roamed the gardens for peace and solace now angrily searched the premises for the thing that had hurt Irmo.

A Maia led Námos to his fallen brother as his wife Estë tended to him.

Feeling his brother's presence, Irmo opened his eyes and uttered four words before going unconscious, "Path of Dreams… Imladris"

Within the Path of Dreams, a place that connects the sleeping spirits of men and elves to Valinor for rest and restoration, the strange spirit searched frantically for its quarry.

It was the nearly the beginning of a new day before the fëa finally found what it sought.

Deep within his bed, young Estel (formerly known as Aragorn) the hope of mankind smiles as he meets the being he had been waiting for ever since he had fallen asleep.

Far away in the Undying Lands…

Inside the Máhanaxar, the Valar's place of counsel, Manwë paced before the entire host of the Valar, his current state a shocking contrast to his usual regal appearance.

At the urging of his wife Varda, he stilled his feet, turning to address the host, "The soul must be returned to the Halls of Mandos,"

"Mph, I will bring this so called spirit back myself", Tulkas, the mighty champion of the Valar, muttered grimly thinking of the injury Irmo had received.

"It is an abomination, tainted with darkness, a thing with many eyes and voices; it tore into my mind ripping away knowledge before throwing me against a garden statue", Irmo said tautly rubbing at the white bandage wrapped tightly around his forehead"

"A spawn of Morgoth", Varda questioned in concern.

"Nay, its presence is different… even more unnatural, but it smells lightly of his taint; a brief touch of his evil", the master of Lorien replied.

"I can't repair the tapestries", Vairë quietly cut in.

"Instead of mending, the needle and thread is creating a new design; the story of the world is changing"

An appalled silence fills the room as each of the great Valar tries to comprehend the sheer magnitude of this new information.

"That settles it; I will find this accursed spirit and drag it back to Námos` halls. By Eru's will it shall be done", Tulkas roared in anger.

On queue as if in answer, a bright light fills the room; to their astonishment, a fellow spirit appears before their eyes dressed in the white splendor of those belonging to the Timeless Hall, the dwellings of Eru Ilúvatar.

"Eru, gives his counsel… the fëa is allowed in Arda with his blessing. The Valar are to do nothing."

With a regal bow, the herald of Eru disappeared, leaving the Valar dumbfounded in his wake.

Even Manwë, the one most understanding of the Eru's will is shocked that the One would allow this spirit free reign in Middle Earth.

Bewildered, the Valar dispersed returning to their duties reluctantly, slightly irritated by the fact that they didn't know what was going on.

One thing was for sure, they would be keeping an eye on Imladris

Back in Imladris also known as Rivendell …

Estel walks through the halls, smiling at various elves that greet him as they went about their work. Instead of heading to breakfast, he took a little tour around his home, his smile becoming even wider as he breathed in the fresh air.

Upon entering the courtyard, Estel is promptly ambushed by the twin sons of Lord Elrond Elladan and Elrohir.

He giggles helplessly as the twins try their best to tickle him to death.

The two half elves finally come to a stop, leaving the boy wheezing for breath.

Now that Estel could finally pay attention to his surroundings instead of laughing, he saw that the twins were dressed in their traveling clothes; at least things they wore when leaving Rivendell.

The little boy sighed in disappointment, "You're leaving again"

The unspoken words of without me cut the air between them silently.

"You know the rules Estel, you are not old enough to go yet", Elrohir said sternly.

At the resulting crestfallen look, Elladan immediately cut in, "When we get back, there will be more adventures to tell you about"

Sadly, Estel nodded his head in agreement.

"Now go eat your breakfast, father has elves searching for you."

As the twins turned to leave, Estel runs after them.

"Wait", he grabs one of the twins as far as his little body could reach (Elrohir's leg) and hugs tightly. "Be careful", he said repeating the same hug for Elladan.

The two brothers eye each other in confusion; Estel has never worried about their safety before; the child was at the childish stage of believing that his idols are invincible.

Elladan kneels and hugs the little boy tightly, "Don't worry we will return safe and sound."

With that the two half elves leave, their backs concealing the now bittersweet and knowing expression on Estel's face.

Later that night, just as the last homely house settles down for a night of sleep and rest, the sons of Lord Elrond returns grievously wounded, only half of the company of rangers they had accompanied returning as well; the rest only their horses.

Soon the healing rooms are filled with screams of pain and the dying.

Admit the chaos; the young Estel goes unnoticed, trading his bed for the blooded rooms.

Dodging harried elves and peeking into each room, the young human completes his journey by entering the room of the ill befallen twins (only narrowly avoiding Lord Elrond as he walked away).

They lay in two single beds, unconscious; various bandages soaked in blood.

Reaching out a hand, Estel gently rubs Elladan's soft hair.

"**We warned you"**, the boy's voice changed becoming deep and echoing sounding like several voices speaking at once.

"**We remember this day; you nearly left us to wander the Halls of Mandos… your survival was a miracle"**

Turning he lovingly rubbed Elrohir's hair, **"We refuse to take a chance with your life"**

Placing a palm on each half elf's forehead, his hands began to glow with a golden light, his voice changing in that of a young man **"Go not into the dark for the light shall bring victory"**

The glow flowed from his hands to their bodies spreading like a gentle wave bringing color back to their bloodless pale cheeks.

Estel puts his hands down and just in time, for he can hear worried voices in the hall coming towards the door.

He crawls under the Elrohir's bed just as Lord Elrond enters with two other elves, the latter carrying a basin filled with warm water and the other carrying various herbs.

As the young human lays under the bed, the elves begin the task of changing the twins' bandages.

The sound of bandages being cut and the slosh of water is all that the boy can hear until one of the elves gasps.

"My Lord there are no wounds", the elven healer said in astonishment, wiping away caked blood to reveal unblemished skin.

Lord Elrond quickly lays his hands on the twins' foreheads, "They are in deep healing sleep, but a remnant of another presence lingers inside them."

Even as he spoke, the remnant reached out to him with love, its sheer purity and graces making even the graceful half elven lord feel unworthy.

For a moment the elf lord longs to stay in its presence forever, but he quickly tears himself away from the temptation.

The powerful elf lord stood quickly, "Continue to wash away the remaining blood, if my sons wake up send for me immediately"

Walking away, Elrond felt puzzled by this unexpected dilemma; even though he was happy that his sons had survived, the appearance of the new presence disturbed him raising many questions…

Back in the twins' room…

Estel waited quietly under the bed for his chance to get away. After several minutes of cleaning, the chance came when the two healers walked away carrying soiled linens and the cleaning basins.

The boy walked on slightly balled feet, moving as a person accustomed to hiding by silence and shadow.

As Estel moved carefully back down the hall, amid the flickering torch lights his shadow changed; for a moment the shape of large veiny wings could be seen protruding out of his shoulders, resembling the end of long spider legs…

The hope of mankind reaches his room safely, quietly closing the door; unknowingly avoiding Glorfindel who had just entered the hall…

Glorfindel pauses in the hallway looking around with confused eyes. For a moment, he could have sworn that he had heard voices; all of them talking at once…

A/N: Well that's it for chapter one and I am unsure whether this is going to be a two shot or a multi chapter story.


End file.
